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Beaver Headdress
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
Two long teeth identify the creature carved on this Haida headdress as a beaver. The headdress was part of a ceremony celebrating the completion of a totem pole carved in British Columbia, Canada, and displayed at The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Chainsaw Carving
Photograph courtesy Jack Litrell, The Olympic Museum
Jim Hart uses a chainsaw to begin carving the Olympic totem pole. Hart began carving the totem pole near his home in the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada.
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Carving With a Chisel
Photograph courtesy Jack Litrell, The Olympic Museum
Hart uses a large, two-handed chisel to carve an eagle to place at the top of the totem pole.
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Carving With Chisels
Photograph courtesy Jack Litrell, The Olympic Museum
Hart uses a variety of chisels to carve the totem pole.
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Designing the Totem Pole
Photograph courtesy Jack Litrell, The Olympic Museum
An artist uses large calipers to measure the distance between items being carved on the totem pole, made of red cedar.
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Sketched Design on Totem Pole
Photograph courtesy Jack Littrell, The Olympic Museum
Artists and craftsmen consider the final design, sketched in pencil, of the totem pole. The pole, carved in the traditional style of the Haida First Nation native to the northwest coast of North America, prominently features a salmon at its base.
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Painting the Totem Pole
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
The Canadian artists finished work on the totem pole in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the pole is displayed in front of The Olympic Museum . Here, an artist paints the final, finishing touches. She wears a traditional Haida hat, made of the flattened, woven roots of the spruce tree.
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Carving the Totem Pole
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
Jim Hart carves details near the top of the pole. Hart, a member of the Haida First Nation, wears a version of the traditional Haida "otter fur turban."
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Totem Salmon
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
"Low man on the totem pole" is actually an honor reserved for the most important person or animal. On the Olympic totem pole, it's the salmon. “The [culture of the] northwest coast of B.C. [British Columbia] is there because of the salmon,” says Hart.
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Totem Pole Assembly
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
Artists fit the top of a totem pole, carved in the shape of an eagle, onto the pole itself.
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Dancing With the Olympic Rings
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
An artist, wearing a traditional Haida cloak, dances with a copper plate decorated with the Olympic rings.
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Totem Eagle
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
The totem pole is nearly ready to be raised. The rings now decorate the eagle's breast, and the eagle is fully attached to the totem pole.
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Purification Ceremony for the Olympic Totem Pole
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
Hart, wearing a traditional Haida cloak, begins a purification ceremony to celebrate the completion and display of his totem pole.
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Raising the Totem Pole
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
Artists, volunteers, officials of The Olympic Museum , and Swiss athletes raise the Olympic totem pole in front of the museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Totem Bear
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
The totem pole's open window, carved into the bear's belly, represents birth and imagination.
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Totem Whale
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
The dorsal fin of the totem pole's killer whale sticks straight out.
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Dance Celebrates the Olympic Totem Pole
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
A group of artists and performers in traditional Haida costume stand behind Jim Hart, dancing to celebrate the completion of the historic journey of the Olympic totem pole.
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Eagle Mask
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
This Haida dancer, also at the ceremony in Switzerland, wears a mask decorated with the face of an eagle.
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Olympic Totem Pole
Photograph courtesy Arnaud Meylan, The Olympic Museum
The Olympic totem pole, carved by Jim Hart and his team of Canadian Haida artists, will stand in front of The Olympic Museum throughout the 2010 Winter Games.
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Switzerland's Olympic Totem Pole
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Pole Position
A totem pole carved by artists from the Pacific Northwest stands in front of the International Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. Find out how the totem pole honors both the site and the spirit of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
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